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When Pat Rozelle entered Sacred Ground Hospice House last summer, she found a level of care she hadn’t anticipated. Her husband, Terry, who refused to leave her side, had been sleeping on the couch in her room. “I knew he wouldn’t go home, but would want to stay with me,” she explains. Sacred Ground’s Executive Director Cindy Bradley arranged for another bed to be brought in. “It meant a lot to me,” Pat says.
The staff’s compassion went even further. For the Rozelles’ 53rd wedding anniversary, the staff and volunteers, on their own time, organized a celebration for the couple. They prepared a candlelight meal, complete with a steak dinner, a cake and a dozen red roses. They even did Pat’s hair, makeup and nails. Nurse Karen Flynn played music on her keyboard.
“Sacred Ground is the ideal place for this kind of experience,” says Pat Rozelle, who remains in long-term care for amyotrophic lateral schlerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
Staff attribute this exceptionalism to Bradley. “She’s so precious to us,” Flynn says. “She has a presence like a mother. She takes care of people who can’t do anything for her. And she makes sure we have what we need to take care of these people. She’s a friend and inspiration to all of us.”
A Calling and a Real Estate Investment
Bradley was inspired to open Sacred Ground after the only residential hospice in East Tennessee, a place where her mother spent the last six weeks of her life, closed in 2017. She had also planned to move her ailing husband, Rudy, there that same year, but by then it wasn’t taking new patients. Caring for him at home, especially as his illness progressed, was overwhelming, Bradley recalls.
After her husband’s passing, Bradley had intended to retire to the beach. “I had actually been looking at houses. But God laid it on my heart that I needed to do something about [the hospice],” she says. She felt underqualified for this undertaking but continued to pray about it. “I was like, ‘Are you crazy? I have a high school education and no medical background. So you’re obviously confused.’ ”
“So many people want to help because of Cindy. Something about her giving nature makes people want to give.” —Megan Roberts, director of nurses, Sacred Ground Hospice House
Her calling overruled any doubts and plans, and Bradley set about trying to save the hospice. In the end, it needed too much work and was too expensive. Instead, Bradley, a broker owner with Signature Homes, located a suitable piece of property where she could invest in building a new facility.
“For 42 years I was smart enough to invest in our amazing product—real estate— which we’re all fortunate enough to get to sell, so I had a rental portfolio,” she says. “I sold the rental houses, cashed out our retirement accounts and built the hospice, which opened in 2021.” Bradley estimates she invested $3.5 million of her own funds into the project.
On top of the (at least) 40 hours she puts in at the hospice each week, Bradley continues her residential real estate brokerage, overseeing several agents, who come to Sacred Ground for meetings. “I have no life,” she laughs.
Sacred Ground operates in partnership with licensed facilities in the area, which have a broader mandate, including treating patients suffering with chronic pain. As an unlicensed facility, Sacred Ground only cares for end-of-life patients.
Exceptional Care Is the Benchmark
Over four years, the 14-bed home hospice has served about 800 families with an extraordinary level of service. Each spacious room has a table and chairs for guests, an ensuite bathroom, a picture window, a smart speaker for music, and a dual reclining leather sofa.
“Most people think a hospice diagnosis means they’re giving up on you,” Bradley says. “In reality, it means you’re getting an advanced form of care. You’re going to get better care. You’re going to get more frequent care.
“In a nursing home [in Tennessee], because they’re so short staffed, you [might] have one nurse for every 20 to 25 patients,” Bradley estimates. “We have a nurse for every three.”
Bradley says her staff are in patient rooms every 30 to 45 minutes. If the patient needs even more attention, volunteers sit with them. “Every time we go into a room, we touch, we pat, we hold, and we play music if they want it.”
Support Through Generosity
Sacred Ground employs a staff of 30. In addition, about 150 volunteers pitch in to do anything that’s needed—read poetry or scripture to patients, answer phones and pull weeds. Bradley doesn’t take a salary. “We run on a shoestring,” she says. “Everybody’s here for the heart, not the pay. It took us three years to get in the black, and now we are trying to get six months of operating reserves in the bank. We’re pretty close to that.”
“When my husband was transitioning [at the end of his life], the staff and volunteers were there to hold me and let me say what was on my mind. This was a personal connection with staff who cared about him and me.” —Pam Jordan, widow of former patient, Sacred Ground Hospice House
Patients who can afford to pay out-of-pocket contribute $2,500 a week toward their stay, which doesn’t even cover the facility’s payroll, Bradley says. Patients who can’t afford that amount are allowed to pay what they can, such as the monthly sum they receive from Social Security. Sacred Ground bridges the difference with its gap fund, built from renting out its companion building for memorials, luncheons and other events, and from fundraising.
Until recently, Bradley received some U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants for indigent care, “but those will soon be gone. So we’re asking churches and the community to step up,” she says. “And we have a great community.”
Most donations come from people who’ve had family members at Sacred Ground. They often also name Sacred Ground in the obituary, which brings in more donations. A pastor who visited was so impressed—“he said he’s never been in a facility this clean,” Bradley notes—that his church contributed $65,000 of funds to dig a well, install an irrigation system and landscape.
Flynn says Bradley continually looks for new ways to raise money, including holding a virtual auction each fall with vendor-donated items like restaurant meals and sporting goods equipment. In addition, the hospice house receives support from East Tennessee REALTORS® and its volunteer programs.
Caring for the Caregivers
Caring for a loved one at home at the end of life can be incredibly challenging. “When I became my husband’s caregiver, there were days I wasn’t as patient as I should have been because I was exhausted,” Bradley recalls. This experience underscored for her how important it is to support the patients’ families too.
“We tell [the family members], ‘You just love on them. We’ll do the tough stuff,’ ” she explains. The hospice team offers guidance on meaningful actions, encouraging families to record their loved one’s voice, share stories and have heartfelt conversations. “People often don’t realize until it’s too late that they’ll never hear that voice again,” she says.
Putting Care Above Money
Bradley’s commitment to care reflects her broader vision for end-of-life support, especially at a time when health care costs are rising and reports show a trend toward private equity buying up hospices. “End-of-life care in our country is so poorly handled,” she says. “It’s a sacred time. We can’t change the end, but we can profoundly change the journey.”
REALTOR® Cindy Bradley, CRS, GRI, of Signature Homes in Knoxville, Tenn. is the founder of Sacred Ground Hospice House in Knoxville County, Tenn.
